Piano-player.



M. NEWOOMER.

PIANO PLAYER. APPLICATION FILED APR.27, 1912.

Patented Mar. 9, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHBET lv qwz ww [NE NORRIS PETERS 60., PHOTO-LITHQ, WASHING FUN, D. C

M. NEWCOMER. PIANO PLAYER, APPLICATION FILED APR. 27, 1912.

Patented Mar. 9, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

llVl/E/VTOR ATTORNEYS mid WITNESSES 45 wmfl HE NORRIS PETERS CO4. PHOTO-LITHO WASHING TOA MARTIN NEWGOMER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PIANO-PLAYER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 9, 1915.

Application filed April 27, 1812. Seria1No. 693,616.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN Nnwcorrnn, a citizen of the United States, residing in New York, New York county, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Piano-Players, of which the following is a. specification, reference be ing had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof.

This invention relates particularly to devices for giving to certain tones more strength than is given to other tones, especially for the purpose of bringing out the solo or melody of a composition or producing melodic or thermatic effects.

The object of the invention is to provide improved devices for this general purpose and particularly to enable the strength of tone to be controlled at will through varia tion in the throw or effective movement of the striking pneumatic by which, through intermediate devices, the operation of the hammer, striking finger or other tone producing device is effected.

The invention will be more fully explained hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which.

Figure 1 is a view in transverse section, partly in elevation of so much of a pneumatic piano playing mechanism and its associated parts as is necessary to enable the invention to be understood. Fig. 2 is a partial view of the same in elevation as seen from the left hand in Fig. 1.

In the construction shown in the drawings the usual perforated music sheet a cooperates with the tracker-board a to control through tubes a and controlling pneumatics (1 which are connected to the exhaust mechanism as usual, the actuation of the striking pneumatics b. The movable members 6' of the striking pneumatics are severally connected through rods 72 with levers c which are pivoted upon a. fixed bar, as at 0' and carry adjustable, swinging thrust rods cZ. Each of the latter members bears at its end against one arm 6 of a corresponding lever e, pivoted at 6 The face 6 of the arm 6', against which the thrust rod d bears, is curved on a radius which corresponds substantially with the radial length of the thrust rod, so that the thrust rod, in its various positions, shall bear always against the arm 6, whether near to or remote from the pivot of the arm. The other arm 6 of the lever e bears, preferably through an adjust able contact piece 6 upon the piano key or other key or its equivalent through which the hammer or tone producing device, not necessary to be shown, is actuated through any usual or suitable devices. It will now be seen that by varying the point of contact of the thrust rod (Z with the lever arm 6 the throw of the striking pneumatic necessary to produce the effective movement of the lever e and the key 7 will be varied and that, since the strength of the tone produced is in proportion to the throw of the striking pneumatic, the variation in strength of tone is produced or the strength of tone is controlled by varying the throw of the striking pneumatic. Obviously,if the effective movement of the key f is produced by a movement of the lever 6 less than the maximum, the thrust rod d will be permitted to have only a movement less than the maximum and, through the described connections, the striking pneumatic will be permitted to have only a collapsing movement or throw correspondingly less than the maximum throw. It will also be obvious that to provide means whereby the performer may control at will the throw of the striking pneumatics it is necessary to provide means whereby the performer may control the position of the thrust rod (Z. The means for this purpose which are shown in the drawings will now be described.

Fach thrust rod (Z is connected by a link 9 with a lever it acted upon by a spring 72, which tends to swing ea ch lever h from the position shown in full lines to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. When the lever h is in the position shown in full lines the thrust rod cl bears against the end of the lever arm 6' remote from its pivot so that the lever 6 may then have its full stroke and the corresponding striking pneumatic may also have its full throw, thereby producing a tone of full strength. On the other hand, if the movement of the lever in is not limited and the lever swings to the dotted line position, the thrust rod (Z is moved to its dotted line position and the full movement of the lever e is then produced by a partial throw of the striking pneumatic and the strength of the tone produced is reduced accordingly. Obviously the thrust rod (Z may have any intermediate position between the two extremes which are referred to for the purposes of explanation.- The problem then becomes one of providing means to permit all of the levers 7a to be moved by their springs h more or less, for the purpose of reducing or subduing the strength of accompaniment tones more or less, at the will of the operator, and for providing other means to permit those of the levers h which correspond to the solo, melodic or thematic tones to be moved by their springs it to a less degree, at the will of the operator, so that these tones shall have more or less prominence over the accompaniment tones. For reducing or subduing the accompaniment tones there is provided, in the construction shown in the drawings, a rod 2' which overlies all of the levers lb, at their free ends, and is carried by arms a", only one of which is shown, from a rock shaft 6 which may be rocked by the performer through any suitable de-- vices conveniently placed, such, for example and by way of illustration only, as a handle 2' Thus, when the rod 2' is moved to its dotted line position, all of the levers h, except those whose movements are limited otherwise, will swing to the position indicated by the dotted lines and the accompaniment tones will be correspondingly reduced or subdued. For the purpose of limiting the movement of the levers h which correspond to the solo or other tones which are to have prominence the means shown comprises a series of bellows k which are carried by a fixed rail is and are connected through tubes 70 with the exhaust or power bellows through suitable controlling devices, under the control of the performer, so that any one or more of the bellows may be collapsed at the will of the performer. Since the musical requirements permit it and to avoid unnecessary complication, each of the bellows is may control a small group of levers h, each such bellows being shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings as controlling a group of three levers 72,. An arm is on the movable member of the bellows carries a bar 70 which overlies three adjacent levers it, so that, when a bellows 7c is collapsed the three corresponding levers h are per- Gopies of this patent may be obtained for mitted to be moved by their springs it only to a distance determined by the position of the bar is": Therefore, although all of the other tones throughout the whole range of the instrument may be subdued, the three tones of this group will have a prominence which corresponds to the limitation of the movement of the three levers h referred to by the bar 70 In this way tones selected at will by the performer may have a strength or prominence determined by the extent of movement of one or another of the bars 76* while all of the other tones are subdued to an extent determined by the movement of the rod 2'.

It will be obvious that the throw of the striking pneumatics may be varied and controlled, at the will of the operator, through devices the details of which may be varied more or less from those shown and described herein according to different requirements of use and that the invention, therefore,'is not limited to the details of construction and arrangement shown anddescribed herein.

1 claim as my invention In a mechanism of the character described, the combination with a striking pneumatic, and a key, of a lever positively connected to the striking pneumatic, a second lever to act upon the key, said second lever having an arm with a curved face, a thrust rod pivoted upon the first lever and cooperating with the curved face of said arm of the second lever, and means to shift said thrust rod toward and away from the fulcrum of the second lever whereby a uniform throw of the second lever is produced by a variable throw of the first lever, the second lever serving to check positively the travel of the movable member of the striking pneumatic when the second lever has completed its throw.

This specification signed and witnessed this 25th day of April A. D., 1912.

MARTIN NEVVCOMER.

Signed in the presence of- E. M. TAYLOR, WORTHINGTON CAMPBELL.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. O. 

